Photo Roundup: Rav Azriel Auerbach Visit to Lakewood Uplifts City

[Photos below.] A wave of excitement swept over Lakewood, America’s “Ihr HaTorah,” last week as one of Klal Yisroel‘s leading gedolei Torah ventured out of Eretz Yisroel for the first time in his life in order to attend the Lev L’Achim Asifa in Lakewood. The renowned Rav Azriel Auerbach – son of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l and son-in-law of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l – is the longtime mara d’asra of Bayit Vegan and one of the most sought after poskim in the world.

Today, Rav Azriel is looked up to as one of the leading poskim in Eretz Yisroel and has trained many poskim who provide hora’ah to bnei Torah communities in Yerushalayim, Beit Shemesh, Beitar, Rechasim, Elad and elsewhere. He is the mara d’asra of the prestigious Bais Medrash Chanichei Hayeshivos of Bayit Vegan and is sought to decide halachic issues all over the country.

His devotion to Yidden in need comes before all else. He established and heads the Va’ad Harabbonim L’Inyonei Tzedakah, which has helped numerous widows and orphans, the sick, the infirm and the severely indigent.

Rav Azriel arrived in the United States at the beginning of last week, first visiting various communities in New York.

During his visit to Lakewood, Rav Azriel’s schedule was packed with visits to numerous yeshivos and homes, where he imparted chizuk to one and all.

“Just seeing such a gadol, and witnessing his middos, his simchas hachaim and his sterling personality, was life-changing to our family,” one person told Matzav.com.

Rav Azriel was hosted by Rabbi Menashe Frankel and family, at whose home he attended a reception with a small group of askanim. He also visited the homes of R’ Michoel Bauman, Rabbi Yonason Sanders, and Rabbi Yossi Halpern, where he attended a breakfast reception.

On Thursday, he attended a kabbolas ponim at the home of Rav Malkiel Kotler, rosh yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha, and he visited the yeshiva, where he was given a tour of the botei medrashim accompanied by the roshei yeshiva and then delivered a shiuron Perek Lo Yachpor in Maseches Bava Basra, which the yeshiva is learning.